Monthly Archives: February 2012

When I first found myself in the understory of this buzzing forest of glass and steel, I thought maybe I would feel at home here in a way I haven’t since I crossed into Tijuana; since I rolled into lands where the cities are all spread flat, and even the most ambitious buildings stake no … Continue reading »

My dear kith, kin and strangers, whose enthusiastic support and interest has filled my sails: I hope it disappoints none of you too much that the time has come for me — for now — to wash myself off, put on human clothes, and try now to rejoin the society I left six months ago. … Continue reading »

So it was that, at 6:30 yesterday evening, 168 days after loading up my bicycle and shoving off from the doorstep of the house where I was raised, I squinted apprehensively along the arched concrete back of the Bridge of the Americas, thanked the fates for the stalled taxi that left one lane clear of … Continue reading »

The border crossing from Nicaragua had one perilous moment. Unlike any of its neighbors to the North, this country requires foreigners to show their onward bus or plane tickets at the entrance to prove they aren’t going to stick around too long. The visa guy gave me a long look up and down and ten … Continue reading »

I knew going in that all of these countries are poor, but I keep finding that the poverty of a nation is not at all straightforward to see or appraise. For example, Guatemala’s per-capita GDP is less than a third of Mexico’s, but Guatemala always felt much richer than Mexico, whether in the country or the cities. The cheapest of everything was better quality. People seemed very generally … Continue reading »